The importance of a restaurant’s menu design

Restaurateurs allocate a lot of money to advertisements such as posters, flyers, and internet or newspaper ads. Promoting a new restaurant is a challenging task, but many need to remember that the most fundamental medium of encouraging new clients, the one that has been known for thousands of years (the oldest being dated to 859 BC, in ancient Assyria!) - is a menu card.

A menu is a list of dishes offered in a restaurant. It’s also one of the first things potential customers look for when researching a place. A menu should be enticing and eye-catching but also easy to read and understand. Studies show that not only the design but also the visual layer is essential when creating a menu. There are some factors that  lead customers to choose certain dishes over others and encourage them to order more food, increasing your sales.

There are a few psychological tips you can consider while creating a menu.

The price of the price

First, we'll explain some tricks about the price of the dishes. The design and the menu contents are significant for its aesthetics.

A day late and a dollar short - don’t add the dollar sign

What looks better: 20 or 20$? The first option, right?  Psychologists think that adding a dollar sign at the end of the price emphasizes the amount of money we must spend and, therefore, discourages an additional purchase. This little trick is widely known in big stores, but it also proves effective in restaurants.

Owe a penny - get rid of 0,99

Another well-known tactic is adding a 0,99 at the end of the price. It was said that this trick encourages us to buy a more expensive product because the lack of one cent at the end of the price makes it appear cheaper. The brain looks primarily at the first digits, so between 16$ and 15,99$, we think the second option is more affordable. On the other hand, this strategy is widely known and used in stores, clothing brands, and many other businesses, which poses another threat - for many clients, the view of 0,99 is cheap and gimmicky. The best solution? Leave the price at 0,95 (proven to do the trick still), or don't add the cents.

The sawdust trail - don’t underline the price

Sometimes, constructing the list of dishes requires a trail of dots or other symbols that connect the dish's name with its price. Many studies show that it's a mistake - a trail like this emphasizes the dish's price. It demotivates a customer, resulting in low sales.

The fifth column - comparing prices is a mistake

Similar to the price trail, a common mistake is a price column. While looking neat and clean, the psychologists warn that the price column works perfectly for comparing prices with each other. It may be helpful in accounting, but not in the menu - it encourages customers to compare and choose a cheaper or cheapest dish.

Menu composition

We now know how to present a price for every dish, so let's discuss the menu design. The number of dishes, their placement in the card, and the visual aspects of the menu are mainly overseen and underrated, but they are an essential part of our restaurant's advertisement campaign.

A seven-dish wonder - keep your dish list short

Too many dishes confuse and make the choice difficult. Too few dishes can suggest something without sufficient choice or something overly-luxurious. So, how many dishes is optimal?? Studies show that the ideal number of dishes under one category is seven. This number should be enough to give customers plenty of choice, ensuring they have enough options. 

The last shall be the first - which dishes to emphasize

Is every dish on the menu equally important? Is their placement in the menu random and unimportant? Absolutely not! While scanning a dish list, the human eye focuses on the first two and last two dishes on the card. These dishes should be carefully selected, as they have the most potential to be in your highest-selling positions.

The golden triangle - the study of the human eye

Human eye behavior is one of the most crucial things to consider when designing menus. Knowing how people look at the menu helps you in the composition of the dishes on the card. Studies show that people look in the middle of the card first, scanning the middle column, then go to the top right corner and to the top left corner. Dishes in these areas are more likely to be picked, so remember to put your best meals in there!

The grand diagram of dishes

Most of the time, restaurant owners need to be made aware that every dish on their menu is part of a specific group of meals and that every group has its perks and flaws. Knowing which dish falls into which category is crucial to judging their position on the menu.

Let's imagine a diagram of two axes - popularity and price. According to them, we can see the four groups of dishes: low popularity - low price dishes, low popularity - high price dishes, high popularity - low price dishes, and high popularity - high price dishes.

Let's analyze them individually and discover their hidden potential in your menu!

Low popularity, low price

The first group of dishes are cheap and rarely picked up meals. Most of the time, you want to eliminate them from your menu, as they are unpopular and don't bring any profit to the restaurant. However,  there is one type of meal in this category that could be an asset in your card. Children's meals, such as chicken nuggets, kiddy burgers, or small portions of traditional food, are in this category and potentially worth keeping on the menu. 

Low popularity, high price

The dishes that fall under this category are primarily luxurious. They are not the first pick for many customers. However, their presence increases your restaurant's prestige and shows your kitchen's versatility.  Ensure that your servers advertise these dishes and that they're visible in your menu.

High popularity, low price

These are the most popular meals among  customers, but not among business owners, as their cost is low. You can consider using less expensive ingredients or making the portions smaller to increase the profitability of these dishes, but still, you should focus on promoting  dishes with higher profit margins.

High popularity, high price

These are the stars of your menu, the dishes and drinks that are frequently ordered and bring you the most profit. Cocktails and pasta are examples that fall into this category, and they should be the most highlighted dishes on your menu.

A killer deal - compose dishes together

Knowing about all the categories, let's consider how the prices of the meals affect their place on the menu. Positioning the low-price and high-price dishes right next to each other would make the more expensive ones look even more costly and unattractive. Pairing expensive dishes with highly popular and high-priced meals would be best. When you see a fish dish for 40$ and a chicken dish for 30$, even though the chicken is still expensive, it looks like a deal compared to the fish dish.

The name makes a dish - hinting at tradition works wonders

This tip is helpful while planning a traditional food restaurant. People are very sentimental and tend to respond positively when reminded of happy childhood times.  ‘Chicken Noodle Soup’ sounds harsh and strict, but ‘Grandma Wilma's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup’ gives a warm feeling of happiness and closeness. You can also achieve a similar effect by referring to your chef or staff, for example, ‘Chef Rob's Special Dumplings’.  This gives the feeling of the restaurant staff being a family and encourages customers to participate in that happiness.

Show your true colors

The final point concerns how to use color in your menu. A menu is a design creation in the same way as posters or architecture, so its colors are equally important.

Green invites good emotions and brings up thoughts of freshness and healthiness. It relates to balance and harmony and offers calmness and comfort. Orange is known for stimulating appetite, but it's also a cheerful color that leaves a great impression on the client. Yellow is a happy attention grabber, a light and joyful color that catches the eye subtly and gleefully. Red immediately stands out on your menu and catches customers’ eyes. Use it wisely to promote the dishes you want people to order.

Knowing how colors affect the perception of the menu, you can now smartly highlight the parts of the menu that you want to advertise more than others.

You can also check out the importance of colors in a different of our articles!

Restaurant Menu Design Trends, Strategies, and Ideas in 2024

Design your menu!

Now you know everything to get you started on working on your restaurant menu! With Menufolio, you'll create an eye-catching menu, promote your restaurant, and satisfy both your clients and your business!